One News

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

In 1988, when Charles Addams died of a heart attack inside his parked car, his wife made a remark that could have been a caption for one of his cartoons: "He's always been a car buff, so it was a nice way to go," she told The New York Times.

Addams was the creator of the Addams Family — the warped and gruesome stars of magazine cartoons, a TV show and two movies. According to those who knew him, Addams was as strange as some of his characters. His sense of humor resembled that of Uncle Fester, the bald-headed ghoul that Addams once depicted in a movie theater, laughing at a movie that makes the rest of the audience cry.

Addams is the subject of a new biography by Linda Davis, called Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life. Davis discusses Addams and his work with Steve Inskeep.

Heads up Kobe Bryant, Aaron Rodgers, and Peyton Manning -- Tim Tebow is America's new favorite active athlete, according to the results of the latest ESPN Sports Poll.

Tebow beat out Bryant, Rodgers and Manning as favorite active athlete for December, 2011. The poll included roughly 1,500 interviews with Americans aged 12 and older around the U.S.

With less than two full NFL seasons under his belt, Tebow climbed to No. 1 faster than any other athlete in the history of the 18-year old poll, according to ESPN. He's the second Denver Broncos quarterback to finish No. 1; Broncos legend and current executive John Elway was the first.

Tebow's the 11th athlete to be named favorite athlete for at least one month in the poll that dates back to 1994. With Tebow-mania in full swing, the Broncos will take on Tom Brady's New England Patriots in an AFC Divisional playoff this Saturday night.

To see how times have changed in sports, take a look at the other 10 jocks previously crowned king, some of whom have fallen out of the favor with the public because of personal scandals. They are: Bryant, Manning, Elway, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Mark McGwire, Brett Favre, Tiger Woods and LeBron James.

ESPN Sports Poll director Rich Luker said in a statement:

To put this in perspective, Tim Tebow rose to the top before the end of his second season. It took Tiger Woods three years, LeBron James eight years and Kobe Bryant 11 years. I think we may be at the front end of a new era in sports stars. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods dominated the top of the list for 17 years. Woods' fall in 2009 seems to have opened the doors for Bryant, James and now Tebow.